Architecture Library

The Architecture Library, one of seven branches of the Hesburgh Libraries of Notre Dame, is located in Walsh Family Hall, home to the School of Architecture. The library is comprised of over 37,000 volumes and hundreds of periodicals on the built and planned environment. Collection strengths include classical & traditional architecture, American architecture, Italian architecture, Latin American architecture, New Urbanism, sustainable design & planning, and urban planning. The Architecture Library supports the research and instructional needs of the School of Architecture’s NAAB-accredited programs including the five-year undergraduate program and its two- and three-year Master of Architecture and Master of Architectural Design and Urbanism programs.

The highlight of the Architecture Library is the Ryan Rare Book Room (RRBR), an extensive collection of early architectural publications including first editions of some of the most important treatises on architecture. It holds the largest known collection of titles from the Helen Park List, architecture books available in the U.S. prior to 1775, along with selections from the Henry Russel Hitchcock’s “American Architectural Books: A list of Books, Portfolios, and Pamphlets on Architecture and Related Subjects Published in America Before 1895.” Other collections housed in the RRBR include Roman Architecture & Vedute, French Architecture, American Pattern Books, British Pattern Books, Greek Architecture, and Rome Outside of Rome. Notable holdings include the first published architecture book, Alberti’s De Re Aedificatoria (1485), the first illustrated architecture book, the Fra Giocondo Vitruvius (1511), and the first full architectural treatise in English, Five bookes of architecture: translated out of Italian into Dutch and out of Dutch into English, by Sebastiano Serlio (1611).

In addition to print collections the Architecture Library builds and maintains several digital projects and collections. These include the Seaside Research Portal, Building South Bend: Past, Present & Future, and an extensive image collection derived from plates from the rare book collection. Mobile applications developed by the Library’s research team, HUE/ND, and focused on Downtown South Bend and Rome are freely accessible from iTunes. The Library is also the repository for the archives of classical architect and theorist Leon Krier and the first New Urban community, Seaside.

The Architecture Library is home to a 3D Makerspace for all 3D design and printing needs. Two oversized 3D printers are provided along with technological assistance for designing and creating printable 3D models. Additional digital tools used to study and present the built and planned world virtually are available. These include Oculus Rifts, 3D scanners, cameras, and tools for aerial photography and mapping.